Friend Before Physician?

From having parents that work in the medical field, I get to know a lot of physicians and other healthcare professionals within my community through attending events with my parents. Not only is this a great way to network for my future career as a physician, but I also get to know different physicians in different specialties around the area where I live. This also means that I tend to see my own personal physician out publicly at events.

Some people may feel that going to a physician who they already know beforehand personally might feel awkward or strange, especially if they are performing certain procedures on you. Through getting know physicians by my parents on a personal level, I’ve learned that I would actually rather go to a physician who I already know because I feel that I would be able to trust them and I would know that they are going to take good care of me. Not that all physicians wouldn’t already take good care of me, but just knowing that I already had a connection with the physician would make me feel more comfortable. I talk to a lot of physicians in my community and they all say the same thing – that they go to other physicians who are their “friends” for the same reasons that I stated above. You really know that you are going to be in good hands if you go to someone who you have a previous relationship with. For others, this may be an ethical issue with them, but from growing up in a medical community it’s something that I have learned to understand and accept.

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Originally from South Carolina, Ashleigh is a second-year international medical student. She graduated from Clemson University with a degree in Spanish and International Health with Emphasis in Health Administration. Before graduation, she had the opportunity to spend a semester abroad in Costa Rica, where she became fluent in Spanish.
Ashleigh is currently preparing and studying for the USMLE Step 1. In her spare time, she is a petsitter and dog walker. She also loves traveling, reading, experimenting with new recipes, and writing for her personal blog, www.IslandMedStudentBlog.com.

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